Laparoscopic gastrectomy for gastric cancer in China: an overview

Since its introduction in China in 2000, laparoscopic gastrectomy has shown classical advantages of minimally invasive surgery over open counterpart. Like all the pioneers of the technique, Chinese gastrointestinal surgeons claim that laparoscopic gastrectomy led to faster recovery, shorter hospital stay and more rapid return to daily activities respect to open gastrectomy while offering the same functional and oncological results. There has been booming interest in laparoscopic gastrectomy since 2006 in China. The last decade has witnessed national growth in the application of laparoscopic gastrectomy and yielded a significant amount of scientific data to support its clinical merits and advantages. However, few prospective randomized controlled trials have investigated the benefits of laparoscopic gastrectomy in China. In this article, we make an overview of the current data and state of the art of laparoscopic gastrectomy for gastric cancer in China.